Plastic Galaxy: The Story of Star Wars Toys

1

(Silence)

To an eight-year-old kid,

"star wars" was... a drug.

I wanted to be part of the...

that "star wars" universe,

and I really felt

like having the toys

was the way to do it.

If you asked me what other toys

or things I was into

in, say, first

through third grade,

I got nothin'.

past the oceans far below

through the stars

and heaven's glow

take us from this overload

on these rockets

past the oceans far below

through the stars

and heaven's glow

take us from this overload

on these rockets

ah ah ah ah

on these rockets

ah ah ah ah

90% of the toys

I had as a child

were "star wars" related.

So, right from the get-go,

it dominated my interest

more than the other, um,

cartoons and toy lines

that were sort of

vying for the attention

of your average kid

growing up in the early '80s.

These were something

that enabled you

to create a world

and play in there.

There were no toys like that.

There was no toy line

that I can remember.

The universe lent itself

to really fantastic

and interesting and...

and, you know,

kind of crazy stories

with weird characters

and new planets,

and I think that

really just grabbed on

to kids' imagination.

Having one of

the "star wars" action figures

in my... in my hand

was about as close

to having one of

the characters in my room.

You know, having 3po

on my table,

sitting there

with r2-d2 next to him.

In the late '70s

and early '80s,

you weren't gonna see

the movies over and over.

For a lot of kids,

the toys, I think,

became more important

than the movies

because they were gonna

get to play with the toys

nearly every day.

They were gonna get to talk

about the toys nearly every day.

(Booth) You know, if you were

going over to your friends house,

you almost didn't have to ask,

"do I need to bring

my 'star wars' guys?"

You know, you just

showed up with 'em.

Once parents came into a room,

"what are you doing?"

"We're playing 'star wars.'

see, hammerhead, he's from..."

"okay, we'll leave you alone."

The parents would not

bother you for two hours

'cause they knew you were

in another universe.

We were pretty rough with them.

We used to like to build

a lot of different forts

and bases out of, you know,

cardboard boxes and bricks

or whatever else we could find,

um, to play with.

They were sort of the modern,

I guess, you know, army guys.

You know, setting up

the battles.

Pew, pew, pew, pew!

My rewards tended

to be "star wars" related.

A decent report card, my dad

would take me to the store

and let me pick out

a "star wars" figure.

Christmases, birthdays,

there was always

some sort of "star wars" toy.

I think "star wars"

set new ground rules

for what was collectible

and the emergence

of popular culture

as being a major phenomenon,

certainly in the us

and then spreading elsewhere.

(Sharp) This is sort

of a funny story.

In my scrapbook,

I have, uh, this sign.

When I was a teenager,

I sometimes didn't always

lock the door to the house

and would get in trouble.

So, my parents went

on vacation one week,

and I came home,

and I saw this sign

taped to the front door

of the house.

"Dear Mr. burglar,

"the most valuable

property in the house

"is the old 'star wars'

toy collection

"on the 2nd floor.

"Help yourself.

Don't forget the lucite star!"

(Miller) So, these are my original

loose "star wars" figures.

This is most of a set

in the case here.

A lot of these are

from when I was a kid.

The same figures I played with.

Actually, I have

two loose sets.

I always had mine that I kept

and, you know, re-armed

and kind of finished out

as I got more seriously

into collecting.

And then a few years ago,

I got a box in the mail

from my brother.

He actually sent me

a darth vader case

full of his figures

from when he was a kid.

You know, I have one set

to pass down to my older son,

and one set to pass down

to my younger son.

I've since had

a daughter as well,

so now I'll have to work

on a third set.

For collectors that now

collect the stuff today

the connection they had

as a kid plays a big part

in why they collect today.

Every kid around my age

had "star wars" toys.

While there's a finite

number of people

that collect this stuff,

there's a lot of people

that know what it is.

They realize that

this stuff has played

some part in popular culture.

Whether it's just

children's toys

or that it has sort of evolved

into its own hobby,

I think more people are

generally aware of that

than we give credit for.

I don't think our connection

with vintage "star wars" toys

is much different

than if you had

gone to your dad,

you know, 25 years ago

and handed him a stack

of baseball cards

from the '50s or '60s.

The fact that these

particular toys

are tied to something bigger,

I think that's a big part

of where their

staying power comes from.

"Star wars" revolutionized

so many things.

The lived-in universe

that Lucas created,

taking the epic hero

and villain story

and placing that in the context

of another universe

changed film, it changed

the toy industry forever.

You know, if you read books

on the toy industry

they almost always

will have a chapter

that talks about "star wars."

It is a profound change

to the toy industry.

(Fawcett) To the best

of our estimates,

and there are no

solid numbers on this,

kenner sold three quarters

of a billion

action figures.

Just wrap your head

around that.

That's a lot of toys.

There had never been

a successful toy license

based on a movie.

Movies came and went.

Plus, the licensing industry

at that point was fairly new.

(Lopez) There had been some

tie-ins of movies and toys.

So there are examples

of like "planet of the apes"

years after the films came out.

Nobody had really done

a massive toy line

at the release of a film.

You know, I think

somewhere in George's mind,

the feeling of "star wars"

was on the 1930s serials.

And they had been merchandised.

For its time

it was a good success.

And I guess that somewhere

in his mind he thought,

"well, you know, maybe

there's something like that

for "star wars."

Send away for a Luke Skywalker

decoder ring.

(20th century fox theme)

So, lucasfilm and fox,

you know, the sent out

the information

and a solicitation

to all of the major

toy companies in the us.

And that included

mattel and hasbro.

They decided, ah, you know,

by the time we would

get the toys out,

nobody's even gonna

remember this movie.

And so they all passed.

But there was this

second-tier toy company

in Cincinnati

called kenner products.

They were know for making toys

that kind of mimicked

real-world experiences.

So the easy-bake oven

was like a toy oven

that girls could mimic

what their mom's did

with a real oven.

They made a toy

that was like a miniature cow

and you could milk it.

They made a goat that

you could feed things to.

They became associated

with play-doh.

Activity-type toys.

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